(aka "The Gladiators" )

directed by Ridley Scott
USA 2000

Gladiator is the kind of movie upon which Hollywood once built its reputation but rarely produces anymore: the spectacle. Filled with larger-than-life characters, gorgeous scenery, impressive set design, and epic storytelling, Gladiator is designed not just to entertain, but to enthrall. It draws audiences in and immerses them in a reality that is not their own. A boisterous reaction is expected every time the protagonist defies the odds and wins a conflict, or changes the tide of battle in his favor. This is filmmaking on a grand scale.


[...]


Gladiator weds the heroic scope of movies like Ben-Hur, Spartacus, Braveheart, and Rob Roy with the serpentine political treachery of I, Claudius. (A connection that is italicized by the presence of Claudius lead, Derek Jacobi, in the supporting role of a Roman Senator.) The film never fails to be involving and entertaining, and there are plenty of moments designed to stir the adrenaline. Additionally, the screenplay manages to avoid the trap of predictability. The villains are at least as smart as the heroes, and far more ruthless.

Excerpt from James Berardinelli's review located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 1st, 2000 - Los Angeles , USA (Premiere)

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Comparison:

Dreamworks - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Columbia Tri-Star Home Video - Region 2 - PAL vs. Paramount (2-disc) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Gary Tooze , Enrico E and Maarten de Haas for the DVD Screen Caps!

1) Dreamworks - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Columbia Tri-Star Home Video - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Paramount (2-disc Sapphire Series) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

 

DVD Box Covers

 

  

Distribution

Dreamworks

Region 1 - NTSC

Columbia Tri-Star Home Video
Region 2 - PAL

Paramount (Sapphire Series)

Extended and Theatrical Cut

Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Runtime 2:34:40 2:28:32 (4% PAL speedup) Extended: 2:50:58, Theatrical - 2:35:01
Video

2.31 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 6.60 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

2.32:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 5.98 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,335,265,792 bytes

Feature: 40,230,770,688 bytes

Video Bitrate: 23.18 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

 

Dreamworks

 

Bitrate:

 

Columbia Tri-Star Home Video

 

Bitrate:

 

Blu-ray

 

Audio English DTS 6.1 (discrete), Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

English DTS 6.1 ES (matrix), English Dolby Digital 5.1

DTS-HD Master Audio English 4404 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4404 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 24-bit)
DUBs: Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps / Dolby Surround
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps
Subtitles English, none Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish and Turkish, none English, French, Spanish, Korean, none
Features Release Information:
Studio: Dreamworks

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 2.31

Edition Details:
• Commentary by director Ridley Scott
• HBO First Look Making Of...
• The Learning Channel's The Bloodsport of a Gladiator
• 25 minutes of Deleted Scenes with director's commentary
• Treasure Chest 7 minute montage of additional unused footage
• Interview with Hans Zimmer on scoring the film
• Two Behind-the-scenes featurettes
• One-Of-A-Kind production diary written by actor Spencer Treat Clark
• Slide show featuring concept art and storyboards
• Photo gallery from Behind-the-scenes of Gladiator set
• Two-disc set

DVD Release Date: November 21, 2000
Double slim keep case

Chapters 28

Release Information:
Studio: Columbia Tri-Star Home Video

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 2.32:1

Edition Details:
• Commentary by director Ridley Scott
• HBO First Look Making Of...
• The Learning Channel's The Bloodsport of a Gladiator
• 25 minutes of Deleted Scenes with director's commentary
• Treasure Chest 7 minute montage of additional unused footage
• Interview with Hans Zimmer on scoring the film
• Two Behind-the-scenes featurettes
• One-Of-A-Kind production diary written by actor Spencer Treat Clark
• Slide show featuring concept art and storyboards
• Photo gallery from Behind-the-scenes of Gladiator set
• Two-disc set

 

DVD Release Date: November 20, 2000
Keepcase

Chapters 29

Release Information:
Studio: Paramount

 

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,335,265,792 bytes

Feature: 40,230,770,688 bytes

Video Bitrate: 23.18 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:
• Audio Commentary—Two separate commentaries accompany the original theatrical version and extended version of the film.
• The Scrolls of Knowledge Trivia track
• Visions From Elysium: Topic Marker


Disc 2

• Visions From Elysium TOP portal

• Strength And Honor: Creating The World of Gladiator. (8 chapters/topics 3:16:50)
The Aurelian Archives

• The Making of Gladiator—HBO First Look special (25:03)
• Gladiator Games: The Roman Bloodsport—Learning Channel special. (50:03)
• Hans Zimmer: Scoring Gladiator (20:42)

• An Evening With Russell Crowe (27:15)

Maximus Uncut - Between Takes With Russell Crowe (7:59)
• My Gladiator Journal—Personal (text)
• Image & Design— 5 Featurettes and galleries covering the production design, storyboards, costumes and more.
• 5 Abandoned Sequences or Deleted Scenes
• VFX Explorations: Germania & Rome (23:50)

Trailers (2 - 2:50 in total)

20 TV Spots (8:55 in total)

NOTE: Extras have optional subtitles in English, French, Spanish or Korean

Blu-ray Release Date: September 1st, 200
9
Standard
Blu-ray case inside cardboard box

Chapters 28

 

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Universal Blu-ray August 2009:  I've lived with this disc for about 1 1/2 days now and am still finding levels of interest subtly stacked within the package. There are 2 Blu-rays in this set. Truly this is an incredible digital achievement. Okay.... I watched the extended version first.

This is part of Paramount's new 'Sapphire Series' (as is Braveheart). You immediately get the choice of viewing the 2:35:01 long Theatrical Version from 'MM A.D.' or the 2:50:58, unrated, Extended Version from 'MMV A.D.' (very cute). There is an optional Introduction by Ridley Scott. These 2 versions are seamlessly branched and take up over 40 Gig of space on the first dual-layered Blu-ray disc. The image appears to surpass even the 1080i HD TV (1.78.1 open matted) - which skin tones look quite a bit redder. Paramount's MPEG4 AVC transfer seems to have improved in every single facet of the visuals although it's not without it's digital manipulations with some minor edge-enhancement and some DNR. The image is certainly brighter - perhaps more than it may have been intended to be. It's tighter all around and is pretty impressive looking, outside of the egregious edge-enhancements, and I hope the captures below support this because this is one of the most anticipated Blu-rays - and many will snub the manipulation. Strangely the 'extended scenes' seem to have had no digital tinkering. People who project to a very large screen will find the filtering more visible - to an almost unwatchable level. The image is frequently dimensional. There is also a marginal amount more information shown in the side edges (compared to the DVD versions). 

While the video quality can make some swoon (and other wretch) the audio doesn't take a backseat. The DTS-HD Master 5.1 at a whopping 4404 kbps is ABSOLUTELY perfect. It has abundant separation with powerful bass and effect subtleties reaching the rear speakers all encompassed by Zimmer's uplifting score floating with nobility around the room. The first flaming arrow that is shot at around 9-minutes in seems to create an incredible amount of effect noise - just from that one motion! Then it just gets better in the battle sequence. It's absolutely reference and a perfect disc for demonstration purposes.

There are 2 foreign language DUBs and optional subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

I don't think I've ever seen supplements on this level. You get separate audio commentaries for the original theatrical version and extended version of the film. In the extended Crowe and Scott expectantly get along well but, at almost 3 hours, it's a lot to fill and it's not all production and technically related but they do cover an incredible amount. They talk fondly about Richard Harris and other more personal expressions.  Also on disc one we get The Scrolls of Knowledge. This is an original trivia track that has been newly enhanced with 43 focal points allowing viewers to access a series of new behind-the-scenes featurettes exploring key scenes and how they relate to the historical accuracy depicted in the film. The extended version of the film also includes a deleted scene marker. Visions From Elysium: Topic Marker—Here viewers can tag over 200 separate moments of interest throughout either version of the film, allowing them to create “shopping lists” of topics to learn more about. Thanks to the Blu-ray player’s memory, the topics will automatically be loaded when Disc 2 is inserted, giving viewers immediate access to featurettes and galleries of interest.

On disc 2 - your shopping list will enact through the Visions From Elysium portal. It's highly impressive - really a great interactive feature. Strength And Honor: Creating The World of Gladiator—The definitive 3 hour 15 minute, 8-chaptered documentary on the origin, production and impact of the Oscar-winning classic. The documentary includes an all-new Enhanced Viewing Mode allowing viewers access to additional interviews and behind-the-scenes material. Under the main topic of The Aurelian Archives - we get, the previously seen on DVD supplements including The Making of Gladiator the HBO First Look special running about 25-minutes. It's in SD and pales in comparison to the main documentary feature. Gladiator Games: The Roman Bloodsport is a Learning Channel special at almost an hour on the historical aspect of the topic. It's not bad at all - quite educational. Hans Zimmer: Scoring Gladiator is an exploration of the beautiful soundtrack lasting 20-minutes. An Evening With Russell Crowe shows the actor's humor during a-kind-of Q&A with a crowd for about 1/2 an hour. Maximus Uncut - Between Takes With Russell Crowe has more of the fun side of the production for just 7-minutes. My Gladiator Journal—Personal diary of the young actor who played Lucius is a text screen profile of the young actor's experiences on the set of Gladiator. Image & Design features five separate featurettes and galleries covering the production design, storyboards, costumes and more. There are five "Abandoned Sequences or Deleted Scenes" (Alternate Title Design, Blood Vision, Rhino Fight, Choose Your Wagon and Treasure Chest). VFX Explorations: Germania & Rome details shot deconstruction with the visual effects artists lasting 23-minutes. There are 2 Trailers (2:50 in total) and a massive 20 short TV Spots (8:55 in total). NOTE: Extras have optional subtitles in English, French, Spanish or Korean. Whewww... unreal.

Well, despite your opinions on the film or it's Oscar worthiness - this Paramount Blu-ray is in a class by itself with the supplements. It covers every nook and cranny of desirability with a plethora of extras and strong, if overly tampered, video. An unbelievable value for all that is included. I'd say this is possibly the best Blu-ray of the year for extras but we shake our heads at the digital manipulations and EE. I'm just going over the 'Sapphire Series' Braveheart now and it seems equally triumphant so far BUT free of enhancements!

Gary Tooze

 

***

ON THE DVDs: Both SD-DVDs look very good with only some minor variances. It appears that the discrete 6.1 audio of the Region 1 is better than the matrix 6.1 on the Region 2. Menu's are the same. For image quality I'll go for R1 for a slight superiority in sharpness. This is negligible though. Colors are accurate in both editions. Subtitles go for the R1, the R2 are a little clunky.

 -Maarten de Haas and Gary Tooze

NOTE:
We added (thanks Enrico!) the HDTV 1080i / aspect ratio - 1.78.1 open matted, audio - Dolby digital 5.1, no subtitles image from HBO for interest sake. It looks marvelous (added: but the
Blu-ray is far better).
 



DVD Menus

(
Dreamworks - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Columbia Tri-Star Home Video - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
 

 


 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGE IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

Subtitle Sample

(Dreamworks - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Columbia Tri-Star Home Video - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)

 

 


Screen Captures

1) Dreamworks - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) Columbia Tri-Star Home Video - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) HDTV - THIRD

4) Paramount (2-disc Sapphire Series) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

 


1) Dreamworks - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) Columbia Tri-Star Home Video - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) HDTV - THIRD

4) Paramount (2-disc Sapphire Series) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 


1) Dreamworks - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) Columbia Tri-Star Home Video - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) HDTV - THIRD

4) Paramount (2-disc Sapphire Series) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 


1) Dreamworks - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) Columbia Tri-Star Home Video - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) HDTV - THIRD

4) Paramount (2-disc Sapphire Series) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

 


1) Dreamworks - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) Columbia Tri-Star Home Video - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) HDTV - THIRD

4) Paramount (2-disc Sapphire Series) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 


1) Dreamworks - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) Columbia Tri-Star Home Video - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) HDTV - THIRD

4) Paramount (2-disc Sapphire Series) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

More Blu-ray Captures

 


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Report Card:

 

Image:

Blu-ray

Sound:

Blu-ray

Extras: Blu-ray
Menu: Blu-ray

 

DVD Box Covers

 

  

Distribution

Dreamworks

Region 1 - NTSC

Columbia Tri-Star Home Video
Region 2 - PAL

Paramount (Sapphire Series)

Extended and Theatrical Cut

Region 'A' - Blu-ray



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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